Rating: 
Summary: Recommended
Review: "A Nomad of the Time Streams" is a unique and fun read, somewhere between Rudyard Kipling and H.G Wells. I think the concept alone is worth the price of the book--but of course, Moorcock is a writer of rare excellence and the result ranks with the best books of speculative fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction, India, Asia and Victorian Prose? Wow!
Review: A friend of mine loaned me this book and it sat on my shelf for several months. I brought it with me on a trip and eventually picked it up. Once I started I couldn't stop! This is fascinating science fiction told primarily from the perspective of two narrators. The stories are [to a certain extent] set at the turn of the century and center around the experiences of a one-time British soldier in the Raj in India. The book is a worthy read for the colorful descriptions of India and other Asian locales alone, however it is the science fiction and irony throughout the rest of the story that carry it along. Don't let the word "Romance" in the title fool you - its not that type of Romance novel. One word of caution: Probably less appealing to those who abhor prison or war stories. For the rest of us? Woohoo!
Rating: 
Summary: Law and anarchy with subtle shades of good and evil
Review: An English army Captain is propelled from the beginning of the twentieth century to the latter third only to be confronted with the subtle evil he has unknowingly morally supported all his life. As he is propelled from parallel universe to parallel universe within the Multi-verse he comes to the realization he is but a pawn of some greater force doomed to be crucially instrumental in the destruction of everything he believes in and has defended as a soldier. Unable to take control of his own destiny, he discovers some relief in the secrets of someone who keeps appearing in each world. But is he free? You may have to read the entire series to find out. Though the readers of Elric may not be satisfied because of the all but total lack of sorcery, "A Nomad of the Time Streams" is a twentieth century Eternal Champion enmeshed in the classic struggle between infinite shades of good and evil, for which Moorcock is famous. Here "Chaos" and "Law" are not named, as in many of his other novels, but they are much more potent because good and evil are subtly hidden within each. This set of stories is a fine contrast to Elric's the end justifies the means and Corum's goody two shoes gets mad.
Rating:
Summary: So many futures that could of been history?
Review: An English officer is tossed into the time streams, ending up in in different worlds, where he must try to decide who he is and what is best for, not only himself, but the world. A mixture of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Airships, land ironclads and undersea warships make things interesting, but they do get a tad bland after a while. Remember, the book is not just about battles between men, but ideas and ways of life. On the other hand, maybe one should just have fun while reading it.
Rating:
Summary: The strange tale of Cpt. Oswald Bastable
Review: Cpt. Bastable is a officer of the British Army serving in India, in the early part of the 20th century. When he his unit is dispatched to put down a minor rebellion in the acient city of Teku Benga, Bastable is pulled into an alternate world similar but very different to his own. In his attempt to return to his own world he passes through two more alternate realities
Rating:
Summary: The Steampunk Eternal Champion
Review: I have the Millenium edition of this collection. Moorcock has brought the Eternal Champion into almost every sub-genre of speculative fiction - sword and sorcery, post-apocalyptic, time travel, space opera, and with this one, steampunk. I count the steampunk Eternal Champions as among the more exotic heroes in the genre, and they are all made colorful by Moorcock's fast-paced storytelling and extensive imagination. Oswald Bastable was an ordinary British officer. He just did his job. Then he got knocked out in an Asian temple. When he wakes up and walks out, he finds himself in a new reality: airships rule the skies, land fortresses roll over the plains and airplanes were a revolutionary concept in air combat. A totally new world, and he still must play his role in it as a servant of the balance. Like any Eternal Champion book, this is an essential.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best of the Best
Review: I love Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle. I love the way it weaves an entire universe where characters can come and go out of each other's stories at any time. Two years after reading Nomad of the Time Streams, it's still my most memorable volume in the core cycle. Moorcock's vision of alternate histories where airships rule the skies and monorails cross the land manages to portray Utopia and Dystopia in the same space. Brilliant writing from a brilliant man. Although Bastable's main story begins and ends with this volume, he still appears briefly in other stories, such as the final book in the Dancers volume and, I believe, in the Cornelius Quartet and possibly in the Blood trilogy. If you've never read Moorcock's EC series, this book provides an excellent introdution.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Commentary
Review: In the context of recent terrorist attacks, this book should be required reading! It is a chilling commentary on the notion of a Pax Britannica or Pax Americana and its hidden imperial agenda.
As well as being a fine read! Moorcock has always written about imperialism and this remains one of his finest comments on the subtle ways in which powerful nations maintain their control of weaker ones. Re-reading it in the light of current events, it makes a whole lot of fresh sense. He never justifies terrorism but he does go a way to explaining how it develops. And the tale also has very cool airships.
Rating:
Summary: Cautionary Socialist Recasting of History
Review: Michael Moorcock's Nomad of the Timestreams is a political statement of deep profundity wrapped in an imperialist candy-coating of red uniforms, zeppelins, and ripping yarns. Moorcock's multiverse is never better here. Oswald Bastable, ripped from his home in the Railway Children Series by E. Nesbitt, is part of the British Empire in 1902. Like a Kipling story, he finds himself doing the dirty work of imperialism unthinkingly. He is punished by being sent into an alternate history seventy-odd years in the future. There he tries to reassemble his life, but finds his sense of social justice is too much, and ends up working for anti-imperialist terrorists. The books are rife with real historical figures turned into their ugliest form, and in each racism is the central conflict, and no matter what he does, or what his good intentions are, Bastable always ends up at the forefront of mass destruction namely twice dropping nuclear weapons. This is a work on the 1970's with its politicals worn bravely on its sleeve, still, Moorcocks vision is soaked with justice and through the adventures in various apocalyptic landscapes, one is as much entertained as educated. Brilliantly written, well-researched, a dazzling performance equaled only by his Dancers at the End of Time series.
Rating:
Summary: Cautionary Socialist Recasting of History
Review: Michael Moorcock's Nomad of the Timestreams is a political statement of deep profundity wrapped in an imperialist candy-coating of red uniforms, zeppelins, and ripping yarns. Moorcock's multiverse is never better here. Oswald Bastable, ripped from his home in the Railway Children Series by E. Nesbitt, is part of the British Empire in 1902. Like a Kipling story, he finds himself doing the dirty work of imperialism unthinkingly. He is punished by being sent into an alternate history seventy-odd years in the future. There he tries to reassemble his life, but finds his sense of social justice is too much, and ends up working for anti-imperialist terrorists. The books are rife with real historical figures turned into their ugliest form, and in each racism is the central conflict, and no matter what he does, or what his good intentions are, Bastable always ends up at the forefront of mass destruction namely twice dropping nuclear weapons. This is a work on the 1970's with its politicals worn bravely on its sleeve, still, Moorcocks vision is soaked with justice and through the adventures in various apocalyptic landscapes, one is as much entertained as educated. Brilliantly written, well-researched, a dazzling performance equaled only by his Dancers at the End of Time series.
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